Macrobiotics is a traditionally based diet, not a traditional one. It is based on the traditional diets of the world’s long-standing cultures. Macrobiotics has its dietary roots in the Far East, Middle East, India, Eastern and Western Europe, Africa and the United Kingdom. We have combined the unique foods from each area along with the cooking styles that are appropriate to where we live.

The traditional grains of the United Kingdom; barley, oats and wheat, are regularly used in the standard macrobiotic diet. Sourdough from Europe is also frequently included. Couscous from the Middle East and North Africa, pasta from the Far East and Italy and corn from the Americas are more examples. Many traditional Japanese products are regularly or occasionally used.

When we practice strengthening health macrobiotics we improve health conditions ranging from obesity to heart disease to high cholesterol to depression. We also make a connection to nature, our ancestors and other places and times. Life is speeding up and it is valuable to maintain these connections. Through strengthening health macrobiotics we hope to strengthen the health of ourselves and our world.

A good Macrobiotic practice means that the person in question has good digestion, from the beginning to the end of the digestive process, good circulation and good nutrition, which is nourishment. Good nutrition means both quality and quantity. The idea that simple and clean food is always better is false. Too much simple and clean food may lead to emptiness.

We should be neither too full nor too empty. Many people think it is admirable to be strict, but it isn’t. If a person or a thing is too good, that is no good.

In the past, everyone did things outside all the time. This was one of the main ways to be active. The more outdoor activity, the better for health. In modern times our lives are growing more sedentary with more time spent indoors. Walking outside, growing vegetables or other kinds of gardening and doing yard work are all natural ways of strengthening our health.

We do not need cures from outside of us as much as we need to strengthen our own connection to nature. Through working outside we can improve conditions like heart disease, lung cancer, depression and many other diseases. The healthier we become the healthier we can help our planet to be. Please create opportunities to work and play outside.

Anything that aids good digestion and good circulation helps our health.

Health is like a mountain spring, the right amount of water moving at a natural speed. If the source is pure, great. But even if the source is not pure, if it has the right kind of activity, it is still sparkling. It can purify itself. If water becomes deficient it slows down. It starts to putrefy if there isn’t enough power for active movement. If there is too much force behind it or if there is too much water, it becomes destructive.

Our bodies are the same. If we can have proper movement our body can constantly renew itself like a healthy mountain stream. The source doesn’t need to be pure for a mountain stream to be healthy and our nourishment doesn’t need to be perfect. We do need to have the ability to circulate. Activity is the pump, the circulator for our bodies.

Good Macrobiotic practice means good digestion, from beginninng to end of the process; good circulation; and good nourishment, both quality and quantity. Good health is the sum total of our nourishment, activity and circulation.

Practicing Strengthening Health Macrobiotics can improve practically any health condition you can imagine, from diabetes to heart disease to high blood pressure to cancer. Proper activity and circulation along with nourishment contribute to health. The Seven Steps, by Denny Waxman, aim to help ourselves, our families and our world to circulate naturally for good health.

Our body renews itself and changes in many ways, The first way is with our blood plasma, the liquid portion of blood, which renews itself every ten days. Our white blood cells renew themselves every two or three weeks. Then we have our red blood cells which typically renew themselves every 28 days. Finally, our entire body renews itself every seven to eight years depending on whether you are a man or woman (seven for women and eight for men). Women have the ability to renew their bodies more quickly than men do.

Although our skin renews itself every twenty-eight days and can only be twenty-eight days old, why do people get dry skin, blemishes, roughness, cracks and wrinkles? If the skin cannot get proper nourishment, it cannot renew itself efficiently and then we say our skin is aging, The reason that our skin cannot renew itself properly is because it is clogged by fat and then moisture and oils cannot pass through to renourish it. Therefore it starts to age.

This is why one of the Seven Steps of Strengthening Health Macrobiotics is to do the body rub, every day, first thing in the morning, last thing at night, or both. The body rub is done with a hot wet towel, separate from the bath or shower. A cotton cloth is dipped into a sink full of hot water and then the entire surface of the skin is gently rubbed (with the weight of your hand) for about ten minutes. This opens up our pores so that our skin can do its job. Our skin is our body’s largest organ. When our skin is unclogged our circulation improves and many kinds of health problems, from cancer to heart problems to obesity, can be improved.

As we improve our own circulation and health, we can strengthen the health of the planet. Please do a body rub today.